The Horrors of Warfare
by AuthorOfTheDark
Summary: A remake of my second novelization of Fire Emblem Rekka No Ken. Something screwed up with the servers and it self-deleted so here it is again, this time with actual production. o/
1. Welcome to Sacea

Author: I had to reupload this actually because at some point it utterly screwed up on the servers and I'm not sure how. I am actively writing (once more) and this will see glorious expansion.

**A Grand Adventure – Prelude, Welcome to Sacea**

The searing heat of the midsummer was brutal, whether one lived in Bern, Etruria or the lands between; with the notable exception of the always cold Ilia. The flowing green contrasted beautifully with the craggy browns of the Eturian badlands, a semi-arid border region in the else-wise beautifully fertile country. For all its staggering beauty it was a lonely place; there were few if any signs of life, animals seemed to forsake the place; only a few deer steered anywhere near to the single living person that crossed it; though perhaps crossed was the wrong word.

The person who wasn't that tall nor physically imposing ran as though all the world were behind him, his legs carrying him faster and faster until at last the long forest green cloak that was draped around him found his feet and he tumbled; the body of the person rolling viciously down the steep hill that led away from Etruria and into the vast, unending plains of Sacea. When at last he stopped the man struggled to stand,continuing his run from his invisible enemies even more hurriedly than before until at last he could run no longer and he simply collapsed.

When at last he awoke again the man found himself staring not into the eyes of God, as he expected but yet upwards into the fabric of some sort of hut. It appeared to be made of some sort of pulled and tanned hide, supported by light wooden beams that looked as though they could be disassembled at a moment's notice. On top of him he noticed were various blankets, heavy for this time of year; as could be told by the sweat on his brow.

His dark green eyes took in the vast, empty room and only one thought crossed his mind; who had saved his worthless, or rather very valuable; life? The question, rhetorical as it was, was soon enough answered by the appearance of an admittedly lovely young woman; were he of lesser character he would've sized her up almost immediately, rather however he did not. "Ah, I see you're awake." Her voice was kind, far too kind, he noted; for the hard life that Sacean Nomads led. "I found you on the plains unconscious." She went on to speak; he wasn't surprised by this, one could only run for so long. "I brought you here until you covered; I assure you I am a friend. I am Lyn of the Lorca Tribe, who are you?"

He blinked twice and held his composure at her words; the last he had heard of the Lorcans they had been annihilated by bandits, no fate for the proud nomads of this hard land, he noted. "I am Mark." His own voice was hard, yet not unkindly, instead it was distant and disconnected.

"Mark? What an odd sounding name. Oh but pay me no mind, it is a good name!" She quickly corrected herself, as though she'd done some unknown offense to him; though she hadn't. "I saw by your attire that you're a traveler of sorts, what brings you to the plains of Sacea? Would you share your story with me?"

He laughed on the inside at the very thought, yet held his tongue. "As you noted I am a traveler." Though a mere five years before that; you would not have been able to get him to believe that, he had done many things in those five years, helped a farmer hang fencing, and even a one time school teacher. "I am headed in no particular direction; the convoy I was with was assaulted." Convoy, yeah, right. "I-"

"What was that sound?-Mark, wait here, I'll go see what's going on." Lyn took up a sword from a corner, one of the finely crafted Sacean Katanas, he hadn't noticed that before and mentally reprimanded himself; had she truly have had hostile intentions it would not have been hard with his clumsiness. She belted the sword quickly and dashed out before returning seconds later. "Bandits! They must have come down from the Bernese mountains!"

He propped an eyebrow up at that, he really had made it a distance. "They must be planning on raiding the local villages, I-I have to stop them!" Lyn continued quickly before she rummaged around the tent quickly and tied another thing to her belt, a satchel heavy with ointments that Mark recognized as vulenaries, something his former army much beloved. "There only looked to be two of them, If that's all of them I think I can take them."

With little difficult Mark went to sit up, thankfully clothed, the light tunic and pants he had been wearing for weeks now seeming to have survived the journey well enough, he looked around for his cloak on instinct as well as his lance; which was propped on a far wall, supporting the forest green garment he frequented, the only surviving legacy of his former days. "You'll be safe in here, Mark-"

"It would be ill suited and advised for you to go out there alone..." Mark said pointedly. "I, you're right, can you use a weapon? You had a sort of lance with you when I found you."

"I am proficient enough though against ax wielding bandits it is of little use. My true calling is strategy, I am a tactician...in training." He added the second part rather quickly, it could be noted.

"Ah, I see, so you're a strategist by trade then? An odd profession but-Very well! We'll go together!" Lyn led the way as the tactician crossed the tent and quickly donned the cloak and hefted the lance, a footman's spear; really, into his hands, the familiar weight a welcome thing.

In the following minutes on the outside of Lyn's tent and behind a few scraggly trees Mark began taking in details; the area was mostly flat, almost entirely so though the impressive mountains of Bern loomed over head in the relative distance. One of the bandits had his back turned and was yelling loudly into the distance to a larger man who was at the foot of another hut. "This should be simple enough..." He began swiftly as he directed the swordswoman.

"Strike the lackey first, he's turned away from us and will be easily dispatched." The two moved quickly, Mark lagging behind by a half-step to avoid being in Lyn's way as she drew her sword and without any sort of glutral battle-cry impaled the ax wielding bandit in a single well aimed swoop.

As the massive beast of meat that was once a man slumped over the heavy ax fell from its limp fingers, landing with a rather sickening crack on Lyn's exposed forearm that was still withdrawing, she deftly pulled back though the damage was done, she took a knee as the tactician came to her side.

"Did it break?" He cut straight to it; almost to the point of not caring.

"I don't think so." She deftly applied one of the vulenaries from her satchel, the semi-magical herbs doing their duty in a near instant; healing the bruised flesh which turned from its deep violet of abuse to its subtle caucasian. "There's only the leader left over by that Ger."

"Quite-Ger?-, and he in typical bandit style he seems to be far larger, though not necessarily more skilled, you are more than skilled enough I should think. Direct frontal assault is ill advisable as it plays to his strengths. So; we'll do this a different way."

"It's a type of tent."

Mark nodded slightly as he took point quickly. "I want you to circle around the distance and flank him. I'll distract him, I suppose."

Lyn blinked twice but nodded in silent obedience, he hadn't led her astray so far so it was worth a shot than being killed. The duo respectively either approached straight forward, or from the side, as they did this they grew further and further apart until finally Mark was the only thing in the direct vision of the large imposing bandit.

"Who do you think you are to stand to Batta the Beast?" The bandit-king was certainly...cocky, Mark noted easily; though he doubted the 'beast' in his title was self-proclaimed, and the list of horrors could probably not be expressed in words.

"I am Death." Mark said coldly, his dark eyes unrelenting as they bore into the Beast. He noticed unblinkingly as Lyn got into her position and then he simply nodded; the Sacean woman darted out with a scathing blow across the bandit's right shoulder, his favored arm by the way he held his ax with it predominately. The massive man screamed out in pain before he rounded around with surprisingly speed for someone so large, the large ax came down on Lyn who blocked it with the flat of her katana, the reverberation from the parry numbed her arms from the single strike as she back-peddled away from Batta quickly.

Mark took this time to simple lean against his lance idly, watching the ensuing battle; he had every bit of faith in Lyn and had no doubt that she could handle herself against the beast. He blinked once, and with motion that he was sure no living man could move with Lyn severed the bandit's head clean from his torso.

"Er, well done; albeit gruesome, but very well done." Mark remarked non-sarcastically; though with a lighter tone to his voice than usual. Lyn casually sheathed her sword as the two walked back towards her Ger. "Long short-day, Lyn. Pleasure to meet you, by the way."


	2. Of Knights and Bandits

**Author:** As this is a rewrite I'm not waiting on reviews for the first couple of chapters, you'll have to catch up folks. When I first received a review for this, someone noted they liked that Mark was indeed a strategist and not a badass, well people should expect him to fight, he won't be a super-warrior or anything but strategy denotes that one is an officer or was an officer in a standing army; which of course comes with training in arms, but fear not! A strategist he shall predominately remain.

The Beginning of an Adventure

Mark noted most evidently even from his studies of the nomadic plains that were Sacea that the only true city was the one he stood in now. Bulgar was the commercial center of the great plains; the place where all of the nations of the world met without ever meeting. The Erturian Empire's fine wines and silks, the bits and barbels down from Ilia, the interesting trinkets of metal and weapons working from the Lycian League and the Kingdom of Bern. Intermixed the most though was the people; this was easily the most cosmopolitan city in the world. As his green eyes roved over the crowds they took in peagasus knights from the far north, the hard etched men of Bern who'd been hewn from their stone surroundings in the southern mountains that made up their kingdom, Erturians which he avoided looking directly at, and Lycians all mixed with the local nomads who bartered their furs and their meager coins for the luxuries they desired and the supplies they needed to survive.

The Tactician turned from the crowds to a stand where Lyndis was in the process of bartering for their own much needed supplies when possibly the most flowering and annoying use of voice he'd ever heard grace his ears shot through the air. "Oh my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!" Both Mark and Lyn turned around at that, it wasn't every day someone was so aloof with their tongue.

They were greeted by the sight of a dismounted knight in forest green with bronze trimming armor, though Mark immediately noted there was no sword at his side; which was odd in his opinion. "Wait, o'beauteous one!" It dawned on Mark then that he was indeed talking to them, or rather to Lyn. "Would you not favor me with your name? Or better yet your company?" It took every ounce of self-control Mark had to stop himself from laughing, he had honestly heard better attempts to woe ladies from street urchins in the capital city of Erutria.

Lyndis eyed over the knight before she very politely replied. "And where are you from, sir knight that you would speak so freely to a stranger?"

"Ah, I thought that you would never ask!" The Knight rambled somewhat. "I am from Lycia, specifically I hail from County Caelin home of men of passion and fire!"

"Should it not be 'home of callow oafs with loose tongues'?" Mark spoke up from his position as the merchant pushed goods into a duo of packs behind them.

"You wound me sir!" The Knight began before Lyn turned heel and gathered the supplies from the merchant, handing over a sizable handful of silver and copper coins as well as a few shining beads. "Come on, Mark, I have nothing more to say to this one."

As the two meandered into a low building that was bellowing smoke; the city's blacksmith; the knight called out a desperate 'Wait!' to no avail as his companion came up behind him; neither swordswoman or strategist heard the conversation between them however. The duo emerged a few moments later adjusting leather straps for their packs freshly sewn in by the blacksmith's apprentice for a few spare coins when they came across the two knights arguing, the second one, Mark noted cared himself with a far higher degree of professionalism and was mounted on one of the finer warhorses that he'd seen in a long time. A second riderless horse was in the process of being mounted by the green knight.

"Excuse us!" Lyn led the verbal charge as the two came up on the knights. "You're blocking the road, if you'd be so kind as to move your horses?" The red knight bowed his head and guided the beast out of the way of the road with few spoken words. "Yes, of course; My apologies."

"Many thanks, you at least seem honorable enough." Lyn said as the duo walked by. "Pardon me, milady, I feel as though we've met before?" The red knight queried politely enough towards Lyn's retreating form, the swordswoman paused before she turned. "Pardon me?" It was at this point the green oaf spoke up again.

"Hey no fair, Kent! I saw her first!" This caused Lyndis to click her tongue and Mark to just shake his head sadly. "So there are no decent men among Lycia's knights after all!" Lyn practically hollered before she turned on her heel and stormed off with Mark in pursuit. "Wait please! I did not mean it like that!"

The dominating walls of Bulgar behind them the intrepid duo were walking rather leisurely, there was no reason to hurry after all when it became apparent they were being followed. At first Mark thought it to be the knights but his trained ears to the sound of cavalry hooves found none, rather instead the heavy foot-steps of half or barely trained men who were pretty much thugs. It took only a few seconds before they were surrounded and Mark drug Lyndis to a halt, pressing his back up against hers, much to the woes of the now smashed bread.

The Tactician readied his fourteen foot long infantryman's spear as Lyndis drew her sword. The command figure of the group, which was no small thing stepped forward towards Lyndis speaking with a bark of a voice. "Heheh, well aren't you a pretty one? Your name is Lyndis is it not!?" He barked the question as a painfully obvious order, Mark blinked twice despite not being facing, he was under the impression that really no one knew that name.

"What did you call me? Who are you!?" Lyn countermanded though to no answer. "Such a waste, what an absolute waste." The brute of a man said. "Oh the things I do for gold. Ah well, time to die darling!"

That was about the time that the sound of heavy hooves met their ears, at full gallop. The two knights from town came dashing on top of the circle, lances extended in the midst of a miniature charge that caused the thugs to scatter. "Finally! All of you are cowards! Such numbers against a lady!" The green knight spoke as the thugs fell back into cover and spread out.

"You, you're-" Lyn began before the red armored knight cut her off. "We can discuss that later milady. It appears these ruffians mean to do you harm. If it's a fight they desire, they can look to us!"

"This is my fight, stand back!" Lyn cried before Mark put his proverbial foot down as his spear came down between the bickerers. "We don't have time for this, what are your names!?"

"I am Kent, this is my companion Sain." The red knight answered immediately as he drew his well crafted long-sword.

"Well met, I am Mark and a strategist by trade, expect my orders for this battle!" The Tactician bluntly ordered to which the knights nodded agreement and Lyn did not argue with.

"Alright spread out, but not as much as they have, Sir Kent, there are two of them that scattered northward from what I could see with my limited vision. Another two dashed southward. No doubt their 'leader' or whatever it is he calls himself is furthest back." The tactician began as his eyes went over the field quickly scanning all that which he needed. "The knot of trees to the south is a spot where I would certainly hide and that doesn't take strategy so much as it does common sense."

"Sir Sain, where in the bloody hell are you going!?" Much to the tactician's avail the green knight had already spurred his horse into a full gallop into the distance that lasted a few short seconds before his lance found itself pinning a man to a tree, blood flowing freely onto the plains.

Lyndis in the mean had come up the side of another bandit without direction and ended up deadlocked in a battle of wills of who was going to give out first while Kent had as directed found two northward of them, it was a far closer fight than Mark would have liked as he found out seconds later as his spear clattered against the head of a very dull ax. "What is it with you idiots and axes!?" The Tactician back peddled before he counter-thrust towards the bandit, the long weapon didn't get the chance to come all the way down before it met with the bandit's ax. During this short lived and lopsided dual the green knight came galloping back to the admittedly much needed rescue of the strategist, his lance spearing the bandit through the stomach. "Are you alright then!?" The cavalier questioned before he galloped off to the relative north where Kent had just dispatched one of his two opponents.

Mark ran across the distance to catch up to his own companion, driving his spear home through the bandit's side that she was fighting who immediately went lax as his major organs were impaled. "Sorry I'm late." He said heavily as he kicked the body off of his weapon. "Wasn't there another one of these buggers?" He questioned aloud as the knights regrouped on the position of the two.

"He darted off to the north over a rather rickety bridge." Kent answered, Mark nodded slightly in response before he looked at Sain heavily. "Hoist me up, I don't expect you to molest me." Sain looked honestly offended but offered his arm down to the tactician who pulled himself on to the rear of the knight's saddle as Kent offered the same to Lyndis who while apprehensive accepted the offer. The ride was a longer one to the bridge in question, across which there were two retreating figures. "If we gallop across this we're going to drown." Mark noted quite seriously as Sain took hold of his riding crop. "So don't do that. Single file, with me and Lyndis on foot so as to not strain the thing further."

The knights agreed as the two clambered down and darted across the old collection of timbers, they carefully followed a few seconds later one after the other, the bridge amazingly held up. "Alright then so you owe us some answers I do believe!" Lyndis hollered at the bandits, one of which charged though looking dreaded to do so. The ax-wielding er-do-well fell a few seconds later in a clean half thanks to Lyndis.

"Goddamn knights, always meddling in the affairs that don't concern them!" The leader, now without men to command yelled in frustration.

"It would have ended the same way without them, I assure you." Mark responded coldly as Lyndis and Kent closed in on the man. The two made a decent team, the tactician noted as the bandit fell to a single knee after a few tense seconds of fighting.

"There was only supposed to be a lone girl..."

"That was fantastic work, Mark." Lyn said as the man fell to his last. "Now to deal with these Lycians." She turned on the two who had since returned their weapons to the appropriate positions. "You were going to share something with me?"

"Yes." Kent began and bade his companion to be silent. "We've come from Caelin in search of someone.

"Lycia is the nation beyond the mountains to the south-west?" Lyn inquired.

"Correct; we've been employed as messengers to find the Lady Madelyn who eloped some nineteen years prior to this one with a nomad."

"Madelyn?" The swordswoman questioned.

"The Marquess of Caelin's only daughter. He was rather heartbroken that his own child would abandon him in such a way...Eventually the Marquess declared he had no children."

"And earlier this year we received a letter from Lady Madelyn." Sain finally spoke up. "It said that she, her husband and her daughter were living happily on the Sacea plains." "The Marquess was ecstatic that he had a granddaughter of some eighteen years. I remember the smile on his face when he announced that he'd suddenly become a grandfather!" "That granddaughter's name is Lyndis; which was also the name of the Marquess's wife who had passed at an early age."

"That she should bare this name thawed the Marquess's heart. Now his wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. Which is why we are here; we did not know however that Lady Madelyn had died just a few short days after sending her letter. We had only learned of this after we had arrived here in Bulgar."

"We also learned however that not all is lost, as her daughter yet lives." Kent said. "We had heard she was living alone on the plains." "Pardon milady but I knew rather immediately that you are Lady Lyndis."

"And why would you think that?" Lyn replied inquisitively.

"You resemblance to your departed mother is quite striking." Kent began;

"You knew my mother?" Lyn cut in.

"I am sorry to say that I never met her ladyship directly. But I have seen her portraits within Castle Caelin."

"I see...To the rest of our tribe I was always Lyn, but when it was just me and my parents; when it was just the three of us I was Lyndis. It's all very strange; I was alone in this world and now I have a grandfather." "Lyndis, I never thought I would ever hear that name again."

A revelation fell onto Mark at that moment. "Didn't that bandit also call you Lyndis?"

"What? How could he have known?" Kent interjected.

"He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren; he must have been." Sain spoke up.

"Lord Lundgren, who's that?" Lyn asked.

Mark tapped his spear to the ground a couple of times. "The Marquess Caelin's younger brother. I've been around some."

Kent and Sain nodded slightly in agreement before Kent spoke again. "Everyone had assumed the Lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren heir to the Marquess's title and lands."

"To put it bluntly milady." Sain started. "Your continued existence is an obstacle to your granduncle's ambitions; it is not hard to imagine he is going to seek you out until you are confirmed to no longer be with us."

Lyn blinked a few times before she spoke again. "That's ridiculous! I have no interest in inheriting titles or lands!"

"Unfortunately, your granduncle is not the sort of man to believe that milady." Sain responded stoically, proving he was capable of being completely serious when the situation called for it.

"It is our duty to bring you to Caelin if you would come with us, milady. We will lay down our lives to assure that you make it there unmolested." Kent spoke truthfully, which Sain nodded in agreement. "Aye, milady; these louts that Lundgren sends are no match for us."

"I-Well." She turned to Mark who rose a single eyebrow as though to say 'Yes?' "Well this changes everything, Mark. What should I do?"

"That is rightly your decision to make, not mine." The tactician said blankly.

"Well, your companionship would make the journey easier I admit; but it is going to be dangerous." Lyn said as Mark stifled a yawn, he wasn't bored or being disrespectful, it was a simple lack of oxygen.

"All the more reason for you to require my services, Lyn. There is no doubt going to be many more battles ahead and as such, you're going to need a capable tactician, no?" He gave a rueful sort of smile.

"So you'll come?" Lyn asked as he nodded slightly. "Oh thank you!" She threw her arms around the tactician in a tight hug which caught him off guard.

"You're welcome, can't breathe!"


End file.
